The Marauder class in PoE is a pure strength class character. So, this class has high HP and is also good at damage dealing. It is based on melee skills and does high single target damage. Although marauder class is good at single target damage, if built properly, it can give damage in an area of effect.

The equipment associated with this class is Greaves, Gauntlets, Casques, Tower Shields, and Plate Mail. These gears showcase class strength. 

The Marauder class also has three Ascendancy Classes.

• Juggernaut
• Berserker
• Chieftain

In this article, we will discuss some of the best builds for the Marauder class.

The Broken Blade Blast Chieftain Build

Chieftain ascendancy is associated with fire damage and totems in the game. Also, this ascendancy carries a lot of damage to penetration abilities with regeneration and life leech. Combining this class with Blade Blast’s stat gives you excessive damage. But Blade Blast should be paired with a generator like Bladefall. This build is a 2-Button-Build as your main skill needs another skill to work.

But this comes with a lot of stats like 9000+ Health, 1000 life regeneration per second, Endurance Charges, 40M+ Shaper DPS, and Spell Block with Life Gained on Block. It is one of the strongest builds among all classes build.  

Play Style

Blade Blast combined with Bladefall, Blade Vortex, and Ethereal Knives create blades called Lingering Blades that are detonable. Also, Unleash Support and Spell cascade works well with Blade fall to create the greatest number of blades per cast. This is all for the offense in the game.

Even for defense purposes, this build is very good. By using Glancing Blows, you can block as much damage as possible, reducing damage by 60%. Also, with lots of Armor, Dodge, and Physical Damage Reduction, you can play head-on with the enemies. So, even if you make mistakes or are not in the best position, you can get away with it. 

This build makes use of the Explode Chest as they scale with Fire Damage of Chieftain Ascendancy.  It also scales other Elemental Damage rolls and can clear an entire screen full of enemies by itself. You have to move your Enduring Cry to your Left Mouse button and forget about it.

You have to use Immortal Call and cast it manually to keep Chieftain’s 15% more damage buff. You have to use low-level Cast when Damage Taken Support for easy gameplay, but we recommend a higher level. But for this, you have to link it to Arcane Surge Support for more uptime.

Trigger Wand use will increase your damage output. Tempest Shield will be used to get extra block chance and Righteous fire and Vaal Righteous Fire for extra regeneration and damage multiplication up to 69%.

Recommended Gears

Here are some of the recommended gears for this build. These gears work well with this build. 

• Head: Rare Helmet with High Life, Resistances, and -9% to Fire Resistance
• Amulet: Rare Amulet with Life, +1 Physical Gems and Resistances
• Chest: Explode Chest piece with Maximum Life
• Gloves: Any Rare Gloves with High Life, Resistances, and Dexterity
• Boots: Any Rare Boots with High Life, Dexterity, Resistances, and Movement Speed
• Belt: Rare Stygian Vise with High Life and Resistances
• Rings: Coral Rings or Opal Rings with Life, Fire Damage, and Resistances
• Weapon: Rare Sceptre with Fire Damage, Spell Damage or +1 to Skills, Cast Speed, and Trigger Mod
• Shield: Any Rare Shield with High Life and Recover % Life when you Block

Leveling

After you start as a Marauder, get an Explosive Trap gem and equip it. Then, go to kill Hailrake and clear Mid Flats. After that, make this link:

• Frost Bomb
• Onslaught Support

Go to Upper Prison in ACT I and kill Brutus there, where you will find Added Lightning Damage Support to your Frost Bomb link.

Kill the final boss of ACT I in Cavern of Anger, Merveil, when you are Level 12. From Level to Level 28, use these gem links to level:

• Storm Brand
• Added Lightning Damage Support
• Controlled Destruction Support
• Elemental Focus Support

At Level 28, you can acquire Armageddon Brand. Replace it with Storm Brand.

Gem Link

There are gems slots in most of the equipment in the game. These gems can be linked with each other to increase the efficiency of the required skills. So, gem link is very important for your character development.

Following gem links should be used for this build, and all gems should be used in the equipment where there is the same number of required gems slots available. Here are the names for the gem link.

Blade Blast Main Link 6-Link	Blade Blast (21/20 Blade Blast is recommended)Awakened Controlled Destruction SupportAwakened Elemental Focus SupportAwakened Fire Penetration SupportAwakened Added Fire Damage SupportAwakened Increased Area of Effect Support
Blade Fall 4-Link	This link is for creating many blades for smooth mapping and bossing. Blade Fall Spell Cascade SupportUnleash SupportCombustion Support
Movement and Utility 4-Link	Flame DashArcane Surge SupportEnduring CrySecond Wind Support
Aura’s 4-Link or 2-Link	You can use two versions for this link. One is the Herald of Purity Version. And its’ link looks like this: Herald of PuritySummon SkitterbotsHerald of AshEnlighten Support (Level 3 or 4)Another version is the Blood Rage Version. Its’ link looks like this:Blood RageEnduring Cry
Trigger Wand Setup 3-Link	If you want all the buffs automatically cast, use all these gems in Trigger Wand.Blood Rage (Grab an Anomalous one if you can afford it)FlammabilityWave of Conviction
Fortify and Vaal Righteous Fire 3-Link	Shield ChargeTempest ShieldVaal Righteous Fire

Ascendancy Nodes

After unlocking ascendancy, you have to choose ascendancy nodes to invest your points on. For this build, choose these ascendancies nodes for this build listed in order of importance.

• Ngamahu, Flame’s Advance
• Valako, Storm’s Embrace
• Tasalia, Cleansing Water
• Hinekora, Death’s Fury

Bandits

In Act 2, there is a quest called “Deal with the Bandits” which will give you passive powerful combat abilities as a reward. You have to choose between 4 options which are:

• Save Bandit Lord Kraityn
• Save Bandit Lord Alira
• Save Bandit Lord Oak
• Kill All Bandits

For this build, you have to kill all the bandits and help Eramir. This will grant you 2 Passive Skill Points.

Pantheons

Pantheon powers help to enhance the characters’ defensive stats. These powers are available when players defeat certain gods from Act 6 to Act 10. There are altogether 12 gods. Four of them are major gods, and eight of them are minor gods. A player can have the powers of one major god and one minor god.

For this build, Soul of Lunaris for major gods will be the best. Also, for minor gods, you can choose Soul of Abberath.

Blade Storm Berserker Build

Berserker class is considered a great ascendancy at present. It can defeat bosses and clear the map with ease. Bladestorm (the main skill gem for this build) is a lot like Cyclone skill gem but is different in some aspects. Its interaction with Blood and Sand is different from Cyclone. Berserker’s ascendancy coupled with Bladestorm is great for both league-starters and end-game pros. 

Play Style

Bladestorm grants you a whole circle of area attack by granting your character spinning ability. But you cannot move while attacking like you can using Cyclone. You will use Blood and Sand to spin between the abilities of blood or sand. This ability can be easy to use but still will require good game mechanics. 

Along with the spinning main attack, you will also get other attacks while spinning known as Bladestorms which deal additional damage. Use Leap Slam to get into the horde of enemies and use Bladestorm to clear them. You can use the sand stance to clear the enemies with increased movement speed, but with tough enemies, you need to switch to the blood stance for increased attack speed.

You must use Blood Rage and Dread Banner and active always. Also, use Vaal Molten Shell for extra defense. You can use Vaal Ancestral Warchief for burst damage or Ancestral Warchief for extra boss damage. 

Recommended Gears

Here are some of the recommended gears for this build. These gears work well with this build. 

• Head: Rare Concentrated Effect Support Helmet
• Amulet: +1 Physical Skill Gems Amulet
• Chest: Rare Astral Plate
• Gloves: Rare Spiked Gloves or Hand of the High Templar
• Boots: Tailwind Two-toned Boots (Cold and Lightning Resistances)
• Belt: Rare Stygian Vise
• Rings: Rare Steel Rings or Shaped Ring + Mark of the Elder
• Weapon 1: Rare Exquisite Blade

Leveling

Until you are Level 12, use Ground Slam, and then when you get Sunder, replace it with Ground Slam. Your Sunder Link should look like this in order of importance:

• Sunder
• Melee Physical Damage Support
• Onslaught Support
• Multistrike Support
• Maim Support
• Ruthless Support

You can use any gem until you get Melee Physical Damage Support in Act II. Other gems can be found early in the game. If you are using Tabula Rasa, you can use Added Fire Damage too. You will find Blood and Sand at Level 4. In ACT II, don’t forget to get Herald of Ash and Herald of Purity, and then you can get Pride in ACT III.

The main gem Baldestorm can be acquired in ACT III after defeating General Gravicius in the Sever the Right-Hand quest. If you want to maximize the area of effect and leveling speed, you can use Pulverise Support. Bladestorm is also a good leveling skill, but not in part with Pulverise Support. 

Gem Link

For clearing and single target, Bladestorm is our main skill gem. This build recommends a 2-handed weapon. You don’t need 6-links in both of the weapons. But if you want to add more auras, you can set up another 6-link. Other gem links and auras with Bladestorm link should look like this: 

Bladestorm 6-Link	BladestormAwakened Melee Physical Damage Support or Multistrike Support (Bad for Mapping)Awakened Brutality SupportRage SupportImpale SupportPulverise Support or Concentrated Effect Support (Can be used if Pulverise Support is not found)
Auras 6-Link	PrideHerald of PurityMaim SupportBlood and SandPrecisionEnlighten Support
Vaal Ancestral Warchief 4-Link	Vaal Ancestral Warchief or Ancestral WarchiefMelee Physical Damage SupportBrutality SupportRuthless Support or Culling Strike SupportIf you have acquired an Elder influenced helmet with the Concentrated Effect Support affix, you must socket the mentioned link.
Utility/Mobility 4-Link	You can use two versions for this link. One is Leap Slam Version. It is early game-oriented. And its’ link looks like this:Leap SlamFaster Attacks SupportVaal Molten SupportBerserkOnly Leap Slam and Faster Attacks Support need linking.Another version is Cast When Damage Taken Support Version which is end-game oriented. Its’ link looks like this:Cast when Damage Taken Support (Level 11)Vaal Molten Shell (Level 16)Blood Rage (Level 20)Berserk (Level 20)Only Cast when Damage Taken Support and Molten Shell need linking. Blood Rage and Berserk should be manually cast.
Warcry 4-Link	Enduring Cry or Blood RageIntimidating Cry or Blood RageSecond Wind SupportDread Banner Any of the two cries can be replaced by Blood Rage. Call to Arms keystone passive can make the war cries instant. So, it is highly recommended.

Ascendancy Nodes

For this build, choose these ascendancies nodes for this build listed in order of importance.

• Flawless Savagery
• Crave the Slaughter
• Rite of Ruin
• Aspect of Carnage

Bandits

If you are just starting, Helping the Bandit Lord Alira will help you a lot. But in the late game, 2 Passive points by killing all the bandits and helping Eramir can be very valuable. For this, you can choose any one of them.

Pantheons

For this build, Soul of Solaris or Lunaris for major gods will be the best. Also, for minor gods, you can choose either Soul of Gruthkul or Shakari or Yugul.